The Transit

Volume 11 Article 10

1-1-1906

Acceleration and Some Locomotive Problems

William G. Raymond
University of Iowa

Follow this and additional works at: http://ir.uiowa.edu/transit

Part of the Engineering Commons

Recommended Citation
Raymond, William G. (1906) "Acceleration and Some Locomotive Problems," The Transit: Vol. 11, p. 33-47.
Available at: http://ir.uiowa.edu/transit/vol11/iss1/10

This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the College of Engineering at Iowa Research Online. It has been accepted for inclusion in The
Transit by an authorized administrator of Iowa Research Online. For more information, please contact lib-ir@uiowa.edu.
 ACCELERATION AND SOME LOCOMOTIVE PROBLEMS.

B y W illiam G. R aymond.

There are certain locomotive problems of interest to the rail­

road locating and maintenance engineer, which involve the tract­
ive power of the locomotive, train resistance, and the general
principles of accelerated motion.
The most important of these problems are:
1. To determine the load a given locomotive can haul on a
given grade at a given constant velocity.
2. To determine the distance on a given grade required by a
given locomotive with a given load, to increase or diminish its
speed from one given velocity to another.
3. The time required to produce this change in velocity.
4. The converse of 2, to determine what velocity can be ac­
quired by a given locomotive with a given load in a given dis­
tance, on a given grade.
5. To determine the length of grade steeper than that for
which a locomotive is loaded that can nevertheless be ascended
by the aid of a run at the hill. This is the problem of velocity or
momentum grades.
6. To determine the speed of a given locomotive with a given
load throughout a given division of track.
7. To specify the principal features of the locomotive to be
purchased for a given service.
In all these problems certain data which in the nature of the
case are to some extent indeterminate must be assumed to be ex­
actly known, and certain other conditions must be assumed that
in reality never exist, with the result that practically all of the
determinations are approximate and must be considered to be
of the nature of carefully prepared estimates. This is particu­
larly true in developing formulas applicable to different locomo­
tives for which the several constants have not been determined
by road tests.
34 THE T RA N SIT

ACCELERATION.

Accelerated motion plays an important part in practically all

of these problems, and there follows a brief statement of prin­
ciples and the development of working formulas.
By the property of inertia, all bodies tend to stay in that con­
dition of motion in which at any instant they may be. An accel­
erating, retarding, or deviating force must be applied to change
the condition of motion as to velocity or direction.
It is known that a constantly applied force of given magnitude
will produce a uniformly changing condition of motion. The
rate of change is called the acceleration and may be positive or
negative (retardation). It is known also that the acceleration
of a given mass is proportional to the magnitude of the constant
unbalanced force acting. Thus, if w be the weight of a body,
i. e., the measure of the force of gravity acting on it, and g be the
acceleration due to gravity, and if P be any other force applied to
the body, the acceleration a, produced by P, will be given by

from which the force P necessary to produce the acceleration a in

a body of weight w is

Under the influence of the force of gravity the velocity of a

falling body increases g feet per second, g having a value varying
with the distance from the center of mass of the earth and with
latitude, but usually assumed for mechanical problems as 32.16.
If the body start from rest it will have a velocity of g feet at the
end of the first second, its average velocity for the first second will
therefore be £ feet which will also be the space covered in the
first second. At the end of t seconds the velocity will be t g feet
* will
per second, the average velocity • have been t g and the space
£

passed over will therefore be feet. If v be veloc­

ity in feet per second, t be time in seconds, and h the space or
height of fall,
 A C C E L E R A T I O N A N D L O C O M O T IV E P R O B LE M S 35

. V
Since from (3) t = —, substitution in (4) gives

Perfectly analogous to these equations, if P be a force acting on

a body and producing an acceleration of a feet per second, for
t seconds, covering a space of 1feet

If a body be uniformly accelerated in a distance of 1 feet from

rest to a velocity of v feet per second, the acceleration from (8) is

and the force P necessary to produce this acceleration, given by

substituting for a in (2), its value from (9), is

If the velocity is expressed in miles per hour V

and if the weight is expressed in tons W of 2000 pounds

If a train be the body, P is the tractive effort to be exerted by the

locomotive to produce the velocity of V miles per hour in the dis­
tance of 1feet.
But not only is the train given a velocity of translation, the
wheels are given a velocity of rotation, requiring P to be larger
36 THE T R A N S I T

than indicated by the foregoing expression by an amount depend­

ing on the relative masses of car and wheels, the pattern of the
wheels and the velocities. For any given set of conditions the
addition to P may be determined by comparing the energy re­
quired to accelerate the car wheels in their motion of rotation
with that required to give the resulting motion of translation to
the car as a whole. No great precision can be attempted for a
general formula. The increase of P may be as little as 2\ per
cent, and it may be as high as 6 or 8 per cent over that given by
equation (11). 'Adopting 4.63 per cent for simplicity of result
p = 70 W (12)
XJ
This force P must be in excess of the forces necessary to over­
come all other resistances. It is probable that no train is uni­
formly accelerated from rest to any given velocity it may attain,
because from a velocity of 0+ to 5 or 6 miles an hour the pull an
engine exerts is nearly constant and is the tractive effort of ad­
hesion,* while the resistances to motion rapidly decrease, leaving
an increasing portion of the tractive effort for acceleration. When
the velocity of 5 or 6 miles is exceeded the resistances to motion
slowly increase, the tractive effort decreases, and there results a
decreasing force available for acceleration, decreasing somewhat
more rapidly than in proportion to the increase of velocity.
If the velocity is to be increased from Yl miles per hour to V*
miles per hour, the force required is
*This statement may be questioned. The Pennsylvania Railroad testing
department, in its estimates of maximum tractive effort of simple locomo­
tives, counts on only 80 per cent of the boiler pressure as available in the
cylinders even at minimum speeds. If this allowance is correct, probably no
simple locomotives in common use can ever exert their full tractive effort of
adhesion, which is usually estimated to be as high as one-fourth of the weight
on the drivers for favorable conditions of track, and not usually lower than
one-fifth under quite unfavorable conditions.
The Baldwin Locomotive Works states that the initial pressure in the
cylinder may vary from full boiler pressure at very slow speeds to 85 per
cent of boiler pressure at high speeds of 300 revolutions per minute, and uses
rather better than 90 per cent of the initial pressure when the speed is less
than 50 revolutions per minute, indicating that the full tractive effort of ad­
hesion may be realized by the cylinders at very slow speed.
Further road tests are perhaps necessary to establish the facts. The loco­
motive testing plants thus far devised are not adapted to tests of high tractive
effort at slow speed.
 A C C E L E R A T I O N A N D L O C O M O T IV E P RO B LE M S 37

If the force be known, and it is desired to determine the distance

required to increase the velocity from V, to V2miles per hour,

If the distance and available force are known, and it is desired to

know how great a load can be carried with the required acceler­
ation, solve A or B for W and get

If W, P, 1 and V, are known, and V2is desired, solve for V2and

get

In determining 1, since P can never be constant, nor even approx­

imately constant, through any considerable change in speed, it is
not uncommon to find 1for a change in speed of 1 mile per hour,
using successively V,, Vr+1, Vt + 2, etc., as initial speeds, until
the required change is reached, when the sum of the several
values of 1 will be the distance required. If V2= V,-!- 1, equa­
tion (B) becomes

The load W in any problem likely to arise would be known or

assigned from some estimate made as hereinafter indicated. The
tractive effort P must be estimated by subtracting from the esti­
mated total tractive effort of the locomotive, the resistance due
to such grade as the train may be on, and the ordinary train re­
sistance, an unknown, and in nature an indeterminate quantity.
Many attempts have been made to determine a rational ex­
pression or formula for train resistance, but none has yet been de­
vised, nor is it probable that any simple formula ever will be de­
vised that shall correctly give the quantity known as train resist­
ance. It depends on the condition of the journals and the weight
on them, on the condition of the rail surface and the weight on it,
on the pattern of the wheels, on the condition of the roadbed, on
 38 THE T RA N SIT

the temperature, on the velocity and direction of the wind, the

speed of the train, etc. It is usually estimated at so many pounds
per ton of train, and some of the estimates will be given. Grade
resistance, being the action of gravity, on an incline may be de­
termined with precision, and is always proportional to the weight
of train.
TRACTIVE EFFORT

The tractive effort of the locomotive has three limits; it can not
possibly be greater than the tractive effort of adhesion which is
the weight on driving wheels multiplied by the coefficient of static
friction between wheels and rails; nor can it be greater than the
cylinder tractive effort which varies with the steam pressure in
the cylinders, the diameter of the pistons, the stroke, and the di­
ameter of the driving wheels. If the cylinders are large enough,
the drivers small enough, and the steam pressure high enough, the
cylinder tractive effort would equal the tractive effort of adhesion,
and the locomotive should be so designed that this is the case at
low speeds. As the speed increases the effective pressure in the
cylinders falls, and the full tractive effort of adhesion can not be
had; moreover, with such boilers as have as yet been devised, the
supply of steam at high pressure necessary to give the full tractive
effort of adhesion can not be maintained at high speed.
A boiler is capable of developing a more or less definite horse
power, and if the work performed is performed at high speed, the
force exerted must be relatively small if the power exerted re­
mains constant. Thus we have the boiler tractive effort as the
limiting quantity at anything over the lower speeds of from six to
ten miles an hour, the precise limit depending on the design of
the locomotive.
The coefficient of static friction between wheel and rail is usu­
ally estimated at about one-fourth for favorable conditions, as
high as one-third with a sanded dry rail, and as low as one-fifth or
less for ordinary winter conditions.
In determining P, therefore, for low speeds under six miles
an hour, either the tractive effort of adhesion, i. e.,
Ta = weight on drivers X coefficient of friction
or the cylinder tractive effort should be used, and for higher
speeds, either the cylinder tractive effort or the boiler tractive
effort. It is practically always true that boiler tractive effort
must be used at speeds of over 8 to 10 miles an hour. In any
event, the tractive effort that is smallest must be used.
 A C C E L E R A T I O N A N D L O C O M O T IV E P R O B LE M S 39

Cylinder tractive effort is given by the formula

in which C is the diameter of the piston in inches, L the stroke in

inches, p the mean effective pressure in the cylinder in pounds,
D the diameter of the drivers in inches, and Tc the tractive effort
in pounds.
The boiler tractive effort is given by

in which I H P is indicated horse power, S is speed m miles per

hour, F is the machine friction reduced to pounds of tractive
effort, and Tb is the tractive effort in pounds. The first term of
this formula, although not new, is not so generally known but
that its derivation may be given.
One horse power is 33,000 foot-pounds of work per minute, or
60 X 33000 foot-pounds per hour. Assuming no losses from fric­
tion the tractive effort multiplied by the distance through which
it acts in a given time equals the work done in that time, and this
divided by the foot-pounds of work corresponding to one horse­
power for the given time, should be the horse power developed by
the locomotive. Therefore

And since there are losses due to friction of the machine parts
that friction must be deducted, giving equation (G).
The horse power of a locomotive is not usually given, but if
not known it may be estimated from the heating surface.
The maximum power per square foot of heating surface varies
with the design of the locomotive, but recent tests* seem to indi­
cate that simple freight locomotives developing full power pro­
duce one cylinder horse power for each 2.3 square feet of heating
surface, varying somewhat either side of this average, and that
compound locomotives may produce one cylinder horse power for
* Pennsylvania Railroad tests at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, which
seem to confirm earlier results of Professor Goss.
40 THE TRANSIT

each 2 feet of heating surface with very decided variation either

side of this mean value. Thus, for a simple freight locomotive,
the boiler tractive effort may be expressed by

in which H is square feet of heating surface and F includes the

rolling resistance of the drivers. F varies with the speed between
limits of 6 per cent and 25 per cent of the indicated power, but
with the locomotive developing full power, or a little less, it may
fairly be taken at 10 to 12 per cent for estimates. In round num­
bers, therefore, the boiler tractive effort is

GRADE R ESISTANCE.

Grade resistance, in pounds per ton of train, is given by

Rg = 20 r
in which r is the rate of rise in 100 feet, or the rate per cent of the
grade. It is a resistance or retarding force to an ascending train
and an accelerating force to a descending train.
TRAIN RESISTANCE

The work done in drawing the train behind the tender on a

straight, level track, is the product of the quantity called train
resistance and the distance through which the train is drawn.
Train resistance is usually considered to include all resistance tax­
ing the tractive effort of the drivers, except grade and curve re­
sistances. It includes the rolling resistance of the driving wheels,
which in later estimates, because of the character of locomotive
testing plants, is included with the machine friction. Train re­
sistance arises from (1) journal friction; (2) rolling friction or
resistance; (3) resistance due to oscillation and concussion; (4)
head, tail and side resistance of the atmosphere.
Journal friction is a maximum of 15 or 20 pounds per net ton at
a velocity of 0+ just after starting from rest; it is not nearly so
much when slowing down from motion to 0+ or after a moment­
ary stop. From this maximum it falls rapidly as the velocity in­
creases to an unknown minimum possibly approximating 2
 A C C E L E R A T I O N A N D L O C O M O T IV E P R O B LE M S 41

pounds per ton. It is very much affected by temperature, and if

a minimum of 2 pounds is realized in summer temperature, it is
very probable that the minimum may be 4 to 6 pounds in winter
weather. It varies very little with velocity if the speed is above
6 or 8 miles an hour. It depends very much on the character
of the lubrication and the condition of the bearings.
Rolling resistance is unknown in amount and is usually classed
with journal friction. It doubtless varies much with the condi-
dition of the track, and with the insistent weight, and is little
affected by velocity changes. Rolling resistance and journal fric­
tion together are assumed at from 2 to 3 pounds per net ton in
modern expressions for train resistance.
Resistance due to oscillation and concussion is unknown in
amount, is believed to be very small, and probably varies with
the square of the velocity.
Atmospheric resistance has been most thoroughly investi­
gated by Professor Goss at the Purdue laboratory. Much de­
pends on the form of the cars and the make-up of the train. A
freight train of box cars moving through still air seems to be
resisted by a force given by the expression A = (13 + .01 C) V2,
C being the number of cars in the train. For the engine and ten­
der alone A = .11 V2and for the train alone A = (.016 + .01 C) V2.
For passenger trains the coefficient of C is to be doubled. At or­
dinary freight train speeds the whole quantity is small, but at
high velocities the resistance is considerable, consuming from
ten to twenty per cent of the tractive force of the locomotive.
The foregoing values are for motion through still air. A head
wind of velocity equal to that of the train would increase the re­
sistance four times, a side wind would have an unknown effect
which would be quite large.
Summarizing all we know of train resistance, it is probable that
the whole may be represented by an equation of the form

in which R is the total resistance in pounds, A, B, C, D, K and M

are coefficients, some of which may be zero, to be determined by
experiment, W the weight of the train, and V is the velocity in
miles per hour. W being expressed in tons, the parenthesis gives
the resistance in pounds per ton of train, which is the usual way
of stating it.
42 THE T RA N SIT

The commoner formulas for train resistance are much simpler

than that just given.
The Baldwin Locomotive Works formula is

in which RTis resistance in pounds per ton of train and V is speed

in miles per hour.
The Engineering News formula is

These formulas make no allowance for the fact that loaded trains
have a less resistance per ton than empty trains, and they also
probably include the machine friction of the locomotive. In
using these formulas in connection with the boiler tractive effort,
the undiminished value of the tractive effort should be used,

Formulas that are perhaps better for freight train resistance are
those devised by Mr. Sanford L. Cluett to fit the curves of the
late Mr. A. M. Wellington: thev are

The formulas give results probably much too great for high speeds,
and possibly somewhat too high for all speeds. The following
modifications are suggested, and while less simple than the En­
gineering News or Baldwin formulas, they are believed to fairly
well fit freight train resistance curves, not including machine
friction, and are applicable for speeds of from 0+ to about 35
miles an hour.

CURVE RESISTANCE

Curve resistance is usually estimated at about 3 of a pound per

ton of train per degree of curve. That is, a 4 degree curve will
offer a resistance of 4/3 pounds for each ton of train on the curve.
 A C C E L E R A T I O N A N D L O C O M O T IV E P R O B LE M S 43
SOLUTION OF PROBLEMS.

Having stated the fundamental formulas, it remains to indicate

their use in solving the problems mentioned in the beginning of
this paper.
In advance, one formula for train resistance is adopted and di­
agrammed or tabulated so that the resistance for any speed may
be taken at once from the diagram or table. It will perhaps be
best if several diagrams or tables are made for various percent­
ages of loading on the train, the several curves for partial loading
lying between the curves of loaded and empty trains.
Next, for the particular locomotive to be discussed, a diagram
or table of tractive effort should be made, using the boiler tractive
effort formula for all speeds above that for which the boiler tractive
effort equals the cylinder tractive effort, using, say, 80 per cent of
boiler pressure as mean effective pressure in the cylinder formula,
except that for speeds below 5 miles an hour 85 per cent of boiler
pressure may probably be safely used. Should the tractive effort
of adhesion be less than the cylinder tractive effort that quantity
should be used for the lower speeds.
Problem 1. To find the load a given locomotive can haul on a
given grade at a given constant velocity. The sum of the re­
sistances must equal the tractive effort; therefore, the tractive
effort at the assumed speed should be placed equal to the train
resistance and grade resistance, indicated by the weight times the
resistance in pounds per ton, and the weight obtained thus:

If r is the ruling grade of the road, T should be taken for the

minimum allowable speed; which is placed by different experiment­
ers at from 5 miles per hour to 10 miles per hour. It should be
that speed which is just enough to make stalling from small acci­
dents of firing, or track condition, unlikely. When this speed is
used the rating for the locomotive over the division is obtained.
Problem 2. Assuming this load, let it be required to determine
the distance on some grade less than the ruling grade in which,
if the locomotive exerts its full power, the velocity may be in­
creased by one mile per hour. Again, the net tractive effort
must equal the sum of the resistances including that due to acceler-
44 TIIE T R A N S IT

ation. The P of equation (E) becomes T — W (RT + 20 r). T

and Rt should be values either for Si or (Si + i) or (Si + 1). It
will be more nearly exact to consider T and RTthe tractive effort
and resistance for (Si + $). Then (E) becomes

If it is desired to find the space required to increase the velocity

from Si to S2miles per hour, equation (I) is solved with successive
values of S and corresponding values of T and RTuntil the value
of S2 is reached; the values of 1 thus found are added for the re­
quired result.
If it is desired to know what average speed may be made up
such a grade of length L, equation (I) is solved with successive
values of S and corresponding values of T and R until the sum of
the several values of 1 equals the length L; then for an approxi­
mate result average the initial and final speeds. For a more ex­
act result each S or each (S + J) is multiplied by the corresponding
1, the products summed, and the sum divided by L. The sum of
the l’s will probably not just equal L, but extreme precision is
useless in such a problem, since the assumed conditions are rarely
those obtaining; the whole train does not enter the grade at once,
may never be on the grade, and does not leave it at once.
Both of these problems may be approximately solved by using
for T and RT their values for the mean velocity, known in the
first and estimated in the second, and substituting the resulting
P in equations (B) and (D).
Problem 4. The procedure is as in the last problem, omitting
the averaging.
Problem 5. A locomotive and train approaches a grade steeper
than the ruling grade for which it is loaded at a speed of Si miles
an hour, and may leave it at a speed of S2 (less than S,) miles an
hour. How long may the grade be?
P of equation (B) is now essentially a negative or retarding force,
and the parenthesis (V22—V,2) becomes forV2= S2—1,— (2 Si—1)
therefore (E) becomes
 A C C E L E R A T I O N A N D L O C O M O T IV E P R O B LE M S 45
and as before P is the difference between T for speed, S, or Si—
Rt for the same speed and Rg, or

Solving with successive values of S to S2 and corresponding

values for T and RT, and summing the results, the possible length
of grade is obtained. Again, an approximate solution may be
had by substitution in (B), using for P a value obtained by taking
T and RT at their values for the mean velocity on the grade,
thus:

If both numerator and denominator of (K) and (L) be divided

by 20, there results

But from the equations given under Problem 1

is the grade on which with tractive effort T and train resistance

Rt, the locomotive can just draw the train at the constant ve­
locity corresponding to T and Rx, and this quantity is seen to be
the first term of the denominator in both (K') and (L'). If, there­
fore, r' be the grade on which the locomotive can just draw the
weight W at the mean velocity of (Si + £) or ^ then (K') and
(L') become
 46 THE T R A N S I T

The quantity r' may be tabulated in advance for the given loco­
motive when the problem of determining 1 for any grade on the
road will be a very simple matter, r' is known as the virtual
grade.,
Equation (I) may be similarly treated and will then become

Problem 6. This problem is determined by successive solu­

tions of the preceding problems. Assuming the locomotive
loaded for minimum speed on the ruling grade of the division, the
average speed that can be made on the several grades is deter­
mined taking care that a maximum speed of, say, 30 miles an
hour, is never exceeded, and introducing all probable stops, The
average speed over the division is then readily determined. This
will be in the nature of things an estimate and should be checked
by trial on the road.
Problem 7. Problem 7 is quite complex. The method of in­
vestigation may be stated somewhat as follows. Determine the
load to be hauled on the ruling grade at the minimum speed;
from the maximum tractive effort required determine the weight
on drivers, and from the allowable unit weight the number of
drivers (note that the result is rational and practicable); deter­
mine a desirable average schedule time, and with this and some
grade on the division assumed at average speed to require the full
capacity of the locomotive, and the determined load, estimate the
total resistance and the necessary power to overcome this at the
assumed speed; with this assumed power, a profile of the di­
vision, and the determined load, find the speeds at which the
various grades can be worked, compare the resulting average
with that deemed desirable and modify the power as may be
necessary; determine the heating surface, and approximate di­
mensions of boiler by comparison with existing locomotives or de
novo; see that the results are practicable; state the requirements
to be a locomotive with the determined weight on drivers and
the determined cylinder horse power, to be developed most eco-
 A C C E L E R A T IO N A N D L O C O M O T IV E PR O B LE M S 47

nomically at the determined average speed, to be capable of such

a maximum speed, and with such a maximum cylinder tractive
effort as has been determined, and leave the proportioning to
the locomotive designer, checking the design in these particulars
when.it shall be submitted.
Problem 3. The time required to gain the velocity v feet per
second from rest, if gained in the distance 1feet is

with v expressed in miles per hour S, since

and if the speed is to be increased from S to S4miles per hour in

the distance 1 feet, the time required is

Hence, having found the distance required for a given acceler­

ation or retardation, substitute it for 1 in equation (R) and solve
for the time.
 THE 1906 TRANSIT BOARD
E. ,T. EDWARDS E.J.O. HEMMER E. J. RUFF E. R. SEIDEL GARRETT BOS